Antonio Quintero Rodriguez

Carrero & Quintero Justicia Deportiva Caracas www.carreroquintero.com

aquintero@carreroquintero.com Tel: +58 4 123 121 298

Biography

Antonio Quintero Rodríguez is partner at Carrero & Quintero, a leading boutique firm specialising in sports and entertainment. He has 14 years of experience in sports law and has held several positions in sports organisations. He holds a law degree from the Universidad Metropolitana. He also holds an LLM in international sports law from ISDE and IEB. He further holds a degree in baseball administration, a degree as football coach and a degree in litigation.

What attracted you to a career in sports law?

Despite Venezuela being a baseball country, football has always been my love and passion right from my boyhood age. I played, coached, and wanted football to be around in my life. When a professor at university spoke to me about sports law, I did not hesitate to pursue it. As soon as I got my law degree, I pursued my LLM in sports law at ISDE. Upon graduating from ISDE, a stranger, who now turns out to be a person I hold dear in my life, opened the door for me – Dr. Nelson Carrero, a former player, coach, football official and lawyer.

How has your role as a sports lawyer changed since you started your career?

It has changed greatly because of technology. Social media and covid-19 changed the game. Your advice and opinion as a lawyer today must take into account the comments you will get from journalists and social media. I have also familiarised myself with online hearings and invested in good video studios. In 2017, we created within the law firm a small marketing and public relationship team led by Mr Andres Moreau, a specialist in digital media, to complement our services.

Another issue is that sports law has become more complex because of the variety of subjects you need to handle. Thus, there are many areas to practice and to be aware of changes. Match-fixing, ethics and governance have significant changes. Also, you need to be aware of new sports such as eSports, Padel, Teq ball, skating, breakdance, etc. The market is no longer exclusively traditional sports. Finally, a sports lawyer must at least understand how new technologies are affecting the market, like blockchain, NFTs, tokens and the metaverse.

What do clients look for in an effective sports lawyer?

First good communication. That they can reach you quickly. Sports law is always faster than other areas of law. You need to be available to provide efficient and fast answers.

Second, you need to have a good understanding of the sporting context, and of how different jurisdictions resolve their sports matters.

Third, a good network of lawyers and of experts to complement your work.

Fourth, you need to have pedagogy to explain the situations and what can be done about it.

How have your postgraduate studies, such as in sports management and football coaching, aided you in your current role?

They help me greatly in giving me different visions on the same situation. I can understand how the administration of a club or sporting organisation is thinking about a case against a player or a coach and viceversa. This allows me to foresee their strategies. Also, when working in football it is easier to understand the sporting situation and to take advantage of small sporting details to insert clauses in contracts to prevent situations for specific players or coaches or to have proper sporting arguments to complement the legal arguments.

What is the most memorable case you have been a part of, and why?

Recently we had the case CAS 2020/A/6695 and 6700 & 7386, a doping case where we acted on behalf of the Major Event Sports Organisation where we faced very good colleagues from London, New York and Ontario debating about qualification for the Olympic Games. It was a huge case with many arguments and mainly focused on a very technical issue of the interpretation of a comment in the WADA Code. My partner, Mrs Elena Mundaray and I were involved in a 16-hour online hearing for two days, with people from at least six different countries. The whole complexity of the case, the resources we required and the quality of the colleagues we were facing was what made it so special. Our main argument prevailed and gave rise to a very interesting decision.

What makes Carrero & Quintero Abogados stand out from its competitors in the market?

The first is teamwork, especially with other lawyers. They are our main clients. Second, although our main work is football, we also act in professional baseball and basketball. We also deal with cases within different federations in different sports within the Olympic movement and outside.

Third, we work with very good experts in doping cases.

Fourth, we have a good knowledge of the functioning of Latin America especially in a difficult country like Venezuela, which has the biggest natural oil reserves. We also have a good network of lawyers in Latin America.

What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?

My parents Antonio Quintero and Dilia Rodriguez, who are also lawyers, taught me that “you cannot practise law alone, you always have to practise with somebody else.” The different views make you prepare stronger cases.

What advice would you give to someone looking to start their own firm?

Three pieces of advice: 1. Create a good network. To have it, you have to treat people with respect and bond properly. 2. Keep studying: a professional has to keep studying all the time, not only the law but different topics. Be curious. 3. Write: show your quality, this is the time of social media.

WWL says: Antonio Quintero is “very good at making oral arguments” and is a “fierce fighter until the end of the matters”.